Sorry for the lack of updates! We've been having dramas with the internet link and our email address, power issues, late nights and this bloody Equine Influenza... Here's a quick update on progress.
We're about 3/4 through the first (of 3) coats of paint and filling in gaps around architraves and bumps in the walls etc. I think the preparation bit takes the longest and once this undercoat is done, the final two coats should be quicker. We are using Dulux EnvirO2 for the walls and ceilings and Aquanamel for the trims. These are low Volatile Organic Compound paints and are also carbon offset during production. The Aquanamel is a water based enamel.
Our laundry arrangement. We plug up the washig machine and the water pump to the generator and we have a couple of usable taps outside for the water. The detergent we are using is the AWARE powder which you can get at supermarkets. Its quite environmentally friendly.
The cats have been living these past 2 weeks in our guest bedroom. Its much bigger than the cage at boarding but they're a bit scared with the noise from building activities and the smells!
Nettie sanding away. Sarah (her sister) also came over a couple of weeks ago and gave us a hand with the wall sanding.
A view from the front door. The raised bed behind my car (white 4WD) is the site for the carport which is being delivered tomorrow. Charlie Britt (a horse trainer friend) is putting it up for us. The carport is 9m wide and 12m deep and its roof will be pitched at 30 degrees so we'll use its northern roof section as the site for the 50 solar panels.
The balcony is now a lot safer as the balustrade is up. We had to add an extra post in between the existing posts so that the maximum distance between them was 1.5m. This is apparently required for the stainless steel wire which tends to loosen up abit and can become prised apart by adventurous little kids... but the council guy is still not happy with it. He might be happier if we raise the garden bed right around the house so that the drop is less than 1 metre, which I was already planning to do anyway.
The pic below is our back yard... the evapotranspiration area. This area is the required 700square metres but we need to have it filled (raised to the 1 in 20 flood level). This pic was taken after about 27 truck loads of topsoil from a nearby development site.. probably another 200 tonnes needed...
